lgkc1

I agree with Johnu. Let the table host have an option to expose declarer/defenders so I don't have to sit there uninvolved. That was one of the best things about BBO.

Dear Fred--I know you meant well, but I, and many friends, feel this was a poor decision. Surely you could make this an option by the table host to hide or reveal declarer to the dummy. I can admit or bar kibbitzers as well as any chat with them. As table host, I also have the option to boot an obnoxious player. I also have the option to leave a table when dummy is rude to me when I am not the host. Why have you chosen the nuclear option when there are less drastic methods? I teach large classes of beginners (100+/class) twice a year. I then send them onto BBO for practice. Many eventually get addicted to the one hour tournament games. I often play a few hands with them to get them up to speed and to help overcome their reluctance to play with strangers. If I cannot see dummy when they declare, it significantly lessens any ability I have to help them. Please reconsider. I also miss the bell ringing when it is my turn to bid or play. Please reconsider or make this an option. Thanks

I echo everything he said but would like to throw in a few more thoughts: 1. I REALLY miss having all the online players available in an alphabetical list so I can find my beginner students and help them out. 2. When I am dummy, I want to see how my students or mentees are playing dummy. 3. When I pull up a player's profile, it disappears before I can fully read it. 4. There are no sound effects when it is your turn to bid or play or they are so soft I can barely hear them. I am not trying to be a jerk, but did you ask any ordinary players to test this out before you sprang it on us? Or did you just implement what worked best for BBO. Because I see no reason for all these changes. I find very little to be an improvement and a lot that is definitely worse. Are these changes mainly to save BBO money? I am not a computer programmer or know anything about how these websites work, but unless there is a big profit motive in these changes, I see no reason to force what I view as an inferior version on us.

No--the sort by category doesn't solve my problem of finding out who is currently online if I do not know their log in name. I would like the instant version of BBO to have all the players listed like the older downloadable version. So I repeat, why isn't this feature in the newer version?

The older downloadable version includes all the players currently online in alphabetical order. This is very handy. Why doesn’t the newer version that downloads directly have this feature? I teach large classes of beginners. I have them begin their login name with KC (kcjoe, kcjoe3, kcbetty, etc) so they can find each other to play with. Also so I can find them and help them figure out BBO and get them playing. They cannot do this on the new version. Is it that tough to include or is there a reason it cannot be included. The search feature isn't adequate if you don't know the login names of who you are looking for. Thanks